LEAF FIGHT!!! : )

I love  crafting as many know as many know... Kira may have the craft bug worse than me!  Her ability to sit still for such long periods of time focusing blows me away... whether beading, sketching, or doing schoolwork.  Grandma Saunders let me know that her mom has some artistic ability that reminds her of Kira.  Hmmm... it is odd, she will even do awesome character drawings free-hand!  She can recognize some words and does write well... like the days of the week, colors, months, and the her numbers.

Her little buddies here are blowing me away as well as they are mastering the alphabet, numbers and shapes.  Many don't take advantage of these years to teach their children the building blocks and rather trust that the schools will be able to build their foundation.  Most every kid at this age enjoy active learning of all sorts.  I use familiar tunes and make up songs and rhymes to help spell each child's name... like "KIRA" we sing to it to the song where they spell out ELMO.  Try singing numbers at least up to 25 to the ABC's tune.  Try counting by 10 while rocking side to side to the same tune as well.  Try eating a certain food according to the day... like muffins on Monday, tacos on Tuesday and so forth:)  We need to post some silly video clips of our coin songs, days of the week, and months of the year... the kids are so cute!  I have to admit I have NEVER had a one year old literally sit through school sessions here AND participate literally trying to sing our tunes, rhymes, and do the hand motions... YET LAYLA DOES!!!  I smile just thinking of them...they each yell out "SCHOOL" in excitement and run to get their pillow to sit by the marker boards!

Zack doesn't mind chores yet... Kira staged her OWN photo moment!! 

We use materials gathered from all over... Dollar Store, Target, the Teacher store, and my scrap piles.  The other day Kira told me we could use our school coins upstairs if we run out of money at the bank: )  I have bags for each coin with the coin taped on the outside and the corresponding pennies within.  There are bags with such things as 10 dimes/dollar, 100 pennies/dollar, 4 quarters/dollar.  It is fun to see them sort the money as well as count it out.  The older kids are given larger assortments of coins and dollars to find totals.  Simple ideas we practice here.  It is neat to see them learn from each other and cheer each other on!  Teaching on so many different topics from the Library keeps my mind busy too!!  The daycare kids and their families are so special to me!  I love having those that have graduated pop by and am blessed to hear of their growth and achievements: )  IN FACT... I bet Brea is reading through this LONG rambling... I LOVE YOU and am so thankful for all your involvement this summer...  you are a rare find!!